subject: Prepaid Cards: The Gift Of Choice For Christmas And New Year [print this page] Finding the perfect Christmas and New Year's gift for your loved ones is becoming increasingly difficult and consumers are more likely than not to see grumpy faces from their loved ones when they give them the gift that they did NOT want. The message really hits home when the question - did you keep the receipt - gets asked more than once.
Hence, it is really not surprising that consumers are opting for the gift of choice with a prepaid gift card for themselves and their loved ones to avoid facing that question this year over Christmas, New Years and beyond.
- Prepaid Gift Cards
Prepaid Gift Cards aim to replace the traditional gift vouchers used by retailers. These Gift Cards can be for yourself or as a gift to others and can either be open loop (used anywhere) or closed loop (with specific retailers only). The cards are typically retailer branded.
- Benefits of Prepaid Gift Cards
1. Provides flexibility for the receiver so they can choose how, where and when they spend the money on the card.
2. More secure than giving cash or paper gift vouchers
3. Instant access via online management tools to account balance, online account and transaction history information.
4. Can be used at millions of locations worldwide - over 28.7 million locations if it is MasterCard branded
5. Your gift is not returned, exchanged and doesn't end up in the bin.
6. Can be loaded at the time of purchase with cash by using a debit or credit card or via bank transfer
7. A lot of prepaid gift card providers have prepaid card competitions running around the festive season which provide the opportunity to win even more gifts.
The bottom line is that prepaid gift cards offer an easier alternative way to give a monetary gift to a loved one. Whilst traditional gift vouchers or traditional gift cards are often tied to a particular retailer or shopping centre, an open loop scheme branded gift card like a MasterCard gift card can be used at over 28.7 million retail locations worldwide and allows the receiver to use it to buy a gift of his or her own choice.
Whether it is prepaid gift cards for rewarding yourself or others, make sure you order the gift of choice this festive season to avoid being boring Uncle John or predictable Aunt Sue.
